This document discusses several key topics in medical ethics including: 1. The basic concepts of medical ethics including beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, justice, and informed consent. 2. Historical events that shaped modern medical ethics such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Doctors' Trial at Nuremberg. 3. The role of Institutional Review Boards in ensuring ethical research and protecting human subjects. 4. Common ethical issues in healthcare like end-of-life care, advance directives, withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, and resolving disagreements between patients/families and physicians.

1. Dr. Mohamed Mosaad Hasan
MD, MPH, CPHQ, CPPS, GBSS

2.  Ethics is the branch of
philosophy which deals
with moral aspects of
human behavior.
 Health ethics is primarily
a field of applied ethics,
the study of moral values
and judgments as they
apply to healthcare.

3. • A group of guidelines, such as the Oath of
Hippocrates, generally written by physicians,
about the physician’s ideal relationship to his
peers and to his patients

4.  The basic concept of medical ethics is that
the physician has a moral (and at times legal)
obligation to act for the patient’s good, using
the most up-to-date information.
 The question is how to establish that “good,”
who defines it, and what are the components
thereof.

6. • Significant technological and scientific
advances and changes in clinical medicine
and research have produced totally new
ethical dilemmas and exacerbated old ones.
• The change in philosophy from paternalism
to autonomy in the physician-patient
relationship.
• The involvement of additional caregivers
(various medical specialists, a variety of
health professionals, students, administrators
and investigators).

7.  The involvement of society at large (through
the mass communication media, courts,
legislators).

8.  Ethical decisions are based on what is best
for the common good and, generally, exceed
what is required by law.
 Legal decisions are based on what is
mandated by statutes or case law

9. • Scientific and humanistic components must
be combined.
• The subjective feelings of the patient, which
are based on personal, social, cultural, and
economic value systems, must be
considered.

10. Video: Tuskegee Syphilis Project

11. In 1990, Executive Editor Dr. Marcia Angell of
the New England Journal of Medicine
reiterated the journal’s position that only
research conducted in accordance with the
rights of human subjects would be published.
The results of unethical research would not
be published, regardless of scientific merit.

12.  The Belmont Report distinguished between
research and practice
 Practice includes interventions designed to enhance
the well-being of a patient through either
diagnosis or treatment and that have a reasonable
expectation of success.
 Research was defined as “an activity designed to
test a hypothesis, permit conclusions to be drawn,
and thereby to develop or contribute to
generalizable knowledge (expressed, for example,
in theories, principles, and statements of
relationships).

13. The IRB must
􀁹 Identify risks of the research
􀁹 Minimize risks as much as possible
􀁹 Identify probable benefits
􀁹 Evaluate the risks in relation to the benefits
􀁹 ensure that research subjects are provided
with an accurate and fair description of the
risks, discomforts, and anticipated benefits,

14.  (6) ensure that research subjects are offered
the opportunity to voluntarily accept or reject
participation in the research, or discontinue
participation, without coercion or fear of
reprisal or deprivation of treatment to which
the patient is otherwise entitled,
 (8) and (7) determine intervals of periodic
review and, when necessary, determine the
adequacy of mechanisms for monitoring data
collection.

15. 1. Beneficence - a practitioner should act in
the best interest of the patient.
2. Non-malfeasance - "first, do no harm".
3. Autonomy - the patient has the right to
refuse or choose their treatment.
4. Justice - concerns the distribution of scarce
health resources, and the decision of who
gets what treatment (fairness and equality).
5. Non discriminatory treatment.

16. 6. Dignity - the patient (and the person
treating the patient) have the right to dignity.
7. Truthfulness and honesty - the concept of
informed consent has increased in
importance since the historical events of the
Doctors‘ Trial of the Nuremberg trials and
Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

18. For example, the principles of autonomy and
beneficence clash when patients refuse life-
saving blood transfusion, and truth-telling
was not emphasized to a large extent before
the HIV era.

19. • The moral obligation to do good for others,
and to help them in an active way.
• there are limits to the requirement that one
act to help others at all times. These vary with
the degree of need, the ease and ability with
which the help can be rendered, and the
nature of the relationship between the
individual needing help and the one able to
provide it.

20. Paternalism is an approach in which the
physician chooses the treatment for the
patient because the physician’s professional
knowledge, experience and objectivity best
qualify him to judge the ideal treatment for
the patient.

21. • Autonomy means that only the patient knows
what is best for him and only he has the right
to decide. In order to do so he/ she needs to
receive from the physician all the appropriate
information about his condition to permit him
to make an informed decision.
• The physician’s values, and even less his
professional knowledge and experience, play
no role in the final decision.

22. Traditionally, the physician’s role was viewed
as giving “orders” to nurses and to patients
(e.g. order-entry, physician orders, etc.). In
the atmosphere of autonomy, physicians
must use a different language such as advise,
recommendation, etc.

23.  The main criticism of pure autonomy is that
the physician has little influence on the
patient’s decision, which is often based on a
lack of full understanding of his condition.
• Such a decision may cause unnecessary and
avoidable harm to the patient

24.  Respect for autonomy is the basis for
informed consent and advance directives.
• Individuals’ capacity for informed decision
making may come into question during
resolution of conflicts between Autonomy and
Beneficence.

25.  is defined as the obligation not to harm
others and to remove and prevent potential
harm. DO NO HARM!!
• Thus, one must not only prevent intentional
harm but must also be appropriately cautious
not to cause harm.

26. • Some interventions undertaken by physicians can
create a positive outcome while also potentially
doing harm. The combination of these two
circumstances is known as the "double effect."
• The most applicable example of this
phenomenon is the use of morphine in the dying
patient. Such use of morphine can ease the pain
and suffering of the patient, while simultaneously
hastening the demise of the patient through
suppression of the respiratory drive.

28.  Uninformed agent is at risk of mistakenly
making a choice not reflective of his or her
values.
• The value of informed consent is closely
related to the values of autonomy and truth
telling.

29.  Patient Rights and
Responsibilities.
 Advance Directives: Patients can
delegate decision-making authority to
another party. If the patient is
incapacitated, the next-of-kin make
decisions for the incapacitated patient.

30. 􀁹 Governed at the state level.
􀁹 Requires a physician order
􀁹 Documented in the medical record
􀁹 Requires clear policy and procedure
􀁹 Documented education of patient, family and
staff
􀁹 Does not require an advance directive as a
precondition

31.  This concept is commonly
known as patient-physician
privilege.
 Legal protections prevent
physicians from revealing
their discussions with
patients, even under oath in
court.

32. • Confidentiality is challenged in cases such as
the diagnosis of a sexually transmitted
disease in a patient who refuses to reveal the
diagnosis to a spouse, or in the termination
of a pregnancy in an underage patient,
without the knowledge of the patient's
parents.

33. • “ethical conflicts" in medical ethics are
traceable back to a lack of communication.
• Communication breakdowns between
patients and their healthcare team, between
family members, or between members of the
medical community, can all lead to
disagreements and strong feelings.

34. • Many times, simple communication is not
enough to resolve a conflict, and a hospital
ethics committee of ad hoc nature must
convene to decide a complex matter.
• Permanent bodies, ethical boards are
established to a greater extent as ethical
issues tend to increase. These bodies are
comprised of health care professionals,
religious leaders, and lay people.

35. Some cultures do not place a great emphasis
on informing the patient of the diagnosis,
especially when cancer is the diagnosis.

36.  Physicians should not allow a conflict of
interest to influence medical judgment.
• In some cases, conflicts are hard to avoid,
and doctors have a responsibility to avoid
entering such situations.
• Unfortunately, research has shown that
conflicts of interests are very common among
both academic physicians and physicians in
practice.

37. • For example, doctors who receive income
from referring patients for medical tests have
been shown to refer more patients for
medical tests.

38.  Studies show that doctors can be influenced by
drug company inducements, including gifts and
food.
• Industry-sponsored Continuing Medical
Education (CME) programs influence prescribing
patterns.
• A growing movement among physicians is
attempting to diminish the influence of
pharmaceutical industry marketing upon medical
practice, as evidenced by Stanford University's
ban on drug company-sponsored lunches and
gifts.

39. 􀁹 Life-sustaining treatment is any treatment
that serves to prolong life without reversing
the medical condition
􀁹 Clear policy and procedure
􀁹 Examples of such treatment
– Mechanical ventilation
– Renal dialysis
– Artificial nutrition and hydration
– Antibiotics
– Blood products

40. 􀁹 Patient must be:
– Of age.
– Able to understand the nature of the
situation and the consequences of the
decision.
– Able to communicate the wishes to the
caregiver.
􀁹 Capacity normally is determined by the
physician

41. 􀁹 Capacity is presumed unless there is a
reason to question it.
􀁹 Capacity may come and go so act as close to
the time of capacity as possible.

42. 􀁹 Do not abandon the patient; arrange
transfer.
􀁹 Have appropriate policies.
􀁹 Be sure decisions are based on medical
issues, not age, social status, etc.
􀁹 Avoid court if at all possible.
􀁹 Negotiate with the patient, surrogates, and
health care providers, if necessary.
􀁹 Use the Ethics Committee.

43. 􀁹 Chairperson should be well educated or
trained in ethical issues.
􀁹 Appropriate medical and clinical staff should
be included.
􀁹 There should be a clerical representative
from the religious community.
􀁹 A layperson from the community should be a
member.
􀁹 Decisions are nonbinding.

44. 􀁹 The risk manager should:
– Be a neutral party during the discussions.
– Serve as a facilitator.
– Act as a consultant on legal issues.
– Develop an ethics consultation mechanism.

45. 􀁹 Abortion and reproductive rights
􀁹 End-of-life or futile care
􀁹 Quality of life
􀁹 Advance directives
􀁹 DNRs
􀁹 Staff rights that conflict with patient wishes

46. The committee that generally is charged with
oversight of investigative patient research is
the:
A. Bioethics Committee.
B. Institutional Review Board.
C. Utilization Review Committee.
D. Quality Improvement Committee.

47. If a patient's physician and agent disagree
about what course of action is best for the
patient, the best course of action is to:
A. Refer the case to the Ethics Committee.
B. Follow the wishes of the patient's agent.
C. Allow the physician to make the decision
since he is ultimately liable.
D. Seek guidance from the appropriate court.